Destined
by thisism3smiling
Summary: A series of ficlets written for Eternal Destiny's livejournal community 'Challenge Destiny'. Inu/Kag.
1. Like Riding a Bike

_**Like Riding A Bike**__**  
**__{ _02 July 2009 _} Written for Challenge Destiny. Prompt: "Independence."_

It took him three years to figure out what he was doing wrong and what he needed to do right, and now that he knew—had solved the mystery—nothing could stop him. Determination lit a fire, setting golden eyes ablaze. Knuckles cracked, shoulders rolled back, and bare feet stepped forward confidently.

"Keh!" he scoffed, laughing off old mistakes. He would not make them again. Today, bright and early on a crisp, summer day, he would redeem himself or die trying to.

Today…

He was going to _ride _that damn bike.

.

The wench. She thought herself slick leaving it behind: the taunting physical evidence of her existence. So, there _had _been a girl who'd overcome time and space. She wasn't just a figment of a wild imagination.

The proof was bright pink, slightly rusted, and leant innocently against the back of Kaede's hut. When he'd found it, he'd been flabbergasted, then furious, then…determined. Determined to find what was so special about Kagome's stupid, metal machine.

The first time he tried riding it, he failed spectacularly with bruises, scrapes, and nothing a deflated ego to show for it.

Then today...

After thinking about it, digging up memories of how Kagome had done it when she'd been there, he finally figured it out. Stunned, InuYasha also realized that the wench had done it again. In her strange, innocent way, she taught him something new. The key to riding this bike was...

…to look forward.

Always when he rode, he looked down, not sure if his feet were in the right place or if he was pedaling correctly. Sometimes, he looked behind him, wanting to make sure that the monk, or the kitsune, or the slayer were nowhere in sight.

Both actions had fatal consequences. They caused the bike to wobble, then crash leaving InuYasha angered, bruised, and confused, but no more after today. He finally found the solution. He just needed to keep his eyes on the road ahead, no matter how bleak, or how Kagome-less it looked. Swinging one crimson-clad leg over the bike, InuYasha set out…

…and _finally _got it right.

Nothing felt more gratifying than the wind running silky fingers through his hair or the care-free feeling he got—almost like flying—as he drove the bike forward. Not downwards. Not backwards.

Forward. Moving on.

.

"I bet you felt that way riding on my back after so long" InuYasha grinned, four years later when the wench—_er,_Kagome—was there and back in his arms.

Smiling secretively, she snuggled into his warmth, her eyes sparkling with pride, admiration, and love.

"Nah. Doesn't even come close," she whispered.


	2. Tough Love

_**Tough Love**__**  
**__{ 09 July 2009_ _} Written for Challenge Destiny. Prompt: "Restraint."_

I hate it when he cries.

The wails penetrate even the strongest of my miko-made barriers, calling out to the mother in me and making me want to run over, pick him up, and hold him to my chest. I want to slay his demons when he cries. I want to fight his fears and his battles for him, but…

I _can't._

A clawed hand on my arm holds me back.

"Leave him," InuYasha mutters, his eyes intense on our 4-year-old son as he bawls his Kami-given lungs out on the ground. Other boys surround him not really knowing what to do, gazing helplessly, just as I am at the hurt boy—or more specifically, the angry red patch that is the reason for his tears:

A skinned knee. _`My poor baby._'

I look up at my husband, my eyes pleading with him. How he isn't moved by those crocodile tears carving lines down that pouty chibi face, or saddened by the sonorous wails, I don't know. I don't understand.

But one thing is for certain: Our son needs me.

"InuYasha," I say, whining. I'm given nothing but a cursory glance and a light squeeze—enough to feel the pinpricks of his sharp, reprimanding talons—on my arm. "Please let me go to him."

My husband shakes his head, never once looking away from our son. "He's hanyou. He'll be fine in just a moment," he assures me.

I'm doubtful. That is, until I see a flickering of something in his eyes. For a brief moment, I'm made to wonder who InuYasha is really seeing. Is it Kentaro, our beautiful baby boy? Or himself all those years ago when he had to teach himself strength, and courage, and survival?

My eyes rapidly mist with tears. It couldn't possibly be the latter. Didn't he know that our son's life was different? He had a mother and a loving father, Sango and Miroku, Kaede, Shippou, friends in the village. Ken would never grow to experience his father's hardships.

As if sensing my doubt, InuYasha pulls me close, whispering in my ear. "Trust me," he murmurs. "Just watch."

…and I do. Within moments the tears stop and I watch in wonder and amazement my little boy get up and continue playing with his friends as if nothing ever happened.

"Keh, told ya!" InuYasha turns to me. He's wearing a satisfied smirk but I can see the lingering _something_:

The same worry, the same fears that I have for our son.

So the next time Ken falls, I'm not as scared, knowing confidently that he is okay, and the father who loves him would never really let anything hurt him.


	3. You Don't Know Me

_**You Don't Know Me**__**  
**__{ _06 August 2009 _} Written for Challenge Destiny. Prompt: "Tarnished."_

Scents didn't lie, but for once, InuYasha wished they did.

"Where'd you get them," he asked calmly, eying the two pink shards in his beloved's hands. The glass was darker than usual, a more vibrant, magenta-hue, but he refused to listen to his nose explain why. The hated odor he sensed, mixed with apprehension, fear, and shame, coating her own honeyed one had to be a mistake.

It _had _to.

Kagome's eyes shifted away from his burning, bright orbs.

"Kouga gave them to me," she croaked, her voice breaking as she held back tears. If the Kami were kind, her hanyou would simply leave it at that.

…but the Kami were _merciless_. InuYasha's face twisted, pain etched across his visage.

"He just gave them to you?" he questioned, disbelieving.

She didn't answer.

"Kagome…"

She took a step back. `_Don't!' _she silently plead. She suddenly felt suffocated under the weight of his stare. His eyes were always windows to his soul, betraying his ever-present scowl, and right now they were shining with hope, begging her to deny his suspicions.

It was a _very _misplaced hope.

"Just take this," Kagome whispered, unhooking a nearly completed jewel from around her neck. "It's yours. You wanted to become a full demon and now you can."

"Keh. After all these years you still think I want that?" InuYasha replied bitterly. He made no move at snatching the jewel that rested atop her palm, glaring hatefully at it.

This made him see his miko in an entirely new light. Here was the woman he loved, the woman he thought understood him better than anyone.

But Kagome didn't know him _at all_.

Years ago, he would've done anything for the Shikon no tama and his juvenile dream of becoming a full-demon, believing he'd truly become whole if he did so. Then she changed him. Three years with Kagome made him see otherwise, gave him new dreams, one's with her by his side.

…now they were gone, their future tarnished by a stupid move on her part.

"I don't want it," he murmured, stepping away from her.

His eyes roved across her body, the lithe frame he once lusted for, longed for.

A body now _bathed_ in Kouga's scent.

`_No_,' he shook his head.

He didn't want _any _of it.

Not anymore.


End file.
